Doughnuts (donuts) with poppy seeds (ukr. Pampushky z makom) are traditional little fried buns made from dough that includes leavening agents and sweet fillings. This is ancient ritual dish that was made for big holidays such as Ukrainian Christmas (Rizdvo), Ukrainian Easter (Velykden).
The ancient recipe from the traditional ethnic Ukrainian cuisine Etnocook describes how to make the dough for doughnuts using healthy homemade hops sourdough starter or the simplest sourdough starter.
Ukrainians used poppy seed (ukr. “mak”) for cooking for centuries and associated it with stars in the space.
Poppy seed filling (especially in Varenyky z makom, ukr.) is very special. It symbolises harmony as poppy seed (mak) symbolises men’s power.
Traditional Ukrainian Donuts Pampushky z makom
- remember that it is not necessary to put on a lot of doughnuts into a pan at once , as they will increase during the heating
- You can take packet of active fresh yeasts (50 g) or active dry yeast or hops sourdough starter (100 g) or the simplest sourdough starter (100 g)
- oil should be taken much so that the doughnuts could swim in it
- ready doughnuts can be sprinkled with powdered sugar and serve with jam
- preparation time for this Etnocook recipe if the dough is with sourdough starter is ~10-12 hours
Ingredients of the Pampushky z makom (Doughnuts with poppy seeds)
- wheat flour - 500 g
- milk - 250 g
- butter - 50 g
- yeast - 50 g
- egg - 1
- yolk - 4
- sugar - 300 g
- poppy seeds - 250 g
- vegetable oil (sunflower oil) - 200 g
Instructions:
1.
Add yeast (or sourdough starter) to warm milk (30C) and one teaspoon of sugar and put in a warm place (for 30 min or for 2 hours in case cooking with sourdough starter). After it groves, add rest of sugar and sifted flour.
2.
Separate the egg yolk from the eggwhite. Mix eggwhite. Separatly in makitra (a clay bowl that have a rough surface inside) mix and grind the butter, two spoon of sugar, the yolks and melted butter.
3.
Add the mixed egg whites and yolks to the mass of sifted flour and make elastic dough. We put it in a warm place for two hours to grow up ( if the dough is with sourdough starter this process is longer and takes ~8-10 hours).
4.
For filling pour hot water to the cup with poppy seeds and leave it for half an hour. Then strain through cheesecloth and rub in makitra with 250 gramms sugar until it is smooth whitish mass.
5.
Two hours later , when our dough has increased in volume by half, we carefully make from it a layer 1 cm thick
6.
On one half of the rolled dough at regular impose a teaspoon of filling. Cover with half of filling the second half of the dough and cut glass donuts. Give a little dumplings stand and grow .
7.
In very good pre-heated oil in a pan put doughnuts, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to very little . When the doughnuts are lightly browned , turn the other side and keep ready.
